Maybe this should be placed in the rants section?
This isn't just an old Grandpa shaking his fist at you wacky kids on my porch pining for the days when stations took pride in their analog FM signal.
There are issues, some of which are described here:
https://www.lifewire.com/problem-with-hd-radio-534510
CD quality? You mean sounding like a bad remaster of an original classic that has no dynamic range left?
One trick not discussed is the temptation to just squeezing in more and more HD channels until the audio quality is so bad that someone complains. But who does that these days, other than to just tune away.
The worst part is interfering with your own analog signal. And frequently, that can mean the digital infrastructure set up for HD (ahem), is also used to put out a crappy analog signal.
I'm not recommending we go back in time, but just to say if you are going to go HD / Analog hybrid, get your act together!
Sadly, my own college alt-station, KCSN is starting to sound like a compressed commercial station. But, ok here comes Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne" for us geezer alts. DESTROYED on analog fm. Ugh, so sad. Can I get these kids to take a trip to other colleges outlets, like KUSC, KKJZ, or KPCC for a refresher? Harsh, but you don't destroy Arnold Layne and get away with it.
To prove I'm not just picking on kids - my "original alt station", KROQ in the 70's and 80's for me, who dared play Jethro Tull while every other station is playing nothing but Led Zepp and KISS every 10 minutes, is just un-listenable to me now, despite me wanting to hear the cool new and semi-old stuff. What a shame to barely see the VU meter move. That's ok when listening to the Ramones, but all the time?
Or simply eat your own dog food and listen to your own station. Perhaps those running some stations have just *never heard* what a good signal sounds like.
"Ok Gramps, time to go back inside" .....
This isn't just an old Grandpa shaking his fist at you wacky kids on my porch pining for the days when stations took pride in their analog FM signal.
There are issues, some of which are described here:
https://www.lifewire.com/problem-with-hd-radio-534510
CD quality? You mean sounding like a bad remaster of an original classic that has no dynamic range left?
One trick not discussed is the temptation to just squeezing in more and more HD channels until the audio quality is so bad that someone complains. But who does that these days, other than to just tune away.
The worst part is interfering with your own analog signal. And frequently, that can mean the digital infrastructure set up for HD (ahem), is also used to put out a crappy analog signal.
I'm not recommending we go back in time, but just to say if you are going to go HD / Analog hybrid, get your act together!
Sadly, my own college alt-station, KCSN is starting to sound like a compressed commercial station. But, ok here comes Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne" for us geezer alts. DESTROYED on analog fm. Ugh, so sad. Can I get these kids to take a trip to other colleges outlets, like KUSC, KKJZ, or KPCC for a refresher? Harsh, but you don't destroy Arnold Layne and get away with it.
To prove I'm not just picking on kids - my "original alt station", KROQ in the 70's and 80's for me, who dared play Jethro Tull while every other station is playing nothing but Led Zepp and KISS every 10 minutes, is just un-listenable to me now, despite me wanting to hear the cool new and semi-old stuff. What a shame to barely see the VU meter move. That's ok when listening to the Ramones, but all the time?
Or simply eat your own dog food and listen to your own station. Perhaps those running some stations have just *never heard* what a good signal sounds like.
"Ok Gramps, time to go back inside" .....
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